Yesterday’s release of the Quarter 3 2024 Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) shows that more people are finding a job in the Western Cape than any other province in South Africa.
The Western Cape continues to be a frontrunner in job creation, with 75 000 jobs created between Q2 and Q3 in 2024. The Western Cape is now home to South Africa’s highest Absorption Rate at 54.2%, and the joint-highest Labour Force Participation Rate at 67.4% – statistics which reveal the provincial economy’s enhanced ability to ensure that new jobseekers can find a job and provides employment to the majority of the Western Cape’s 5 million-strong working population.
The survey, which covered the period between July and September 2024, reveals that the official unemployment rate in the Western Cape has dropped by 2.6% from the last quarter, and now stands at 19.6%. The province’s expanded unemployment rate now stands at 25.6%, having dropped 1.7% from the last quarter.
While there is still much work to do, these numbers reinforce the promising indicators of economic growth in the Western Cape, despite a challenging environment globally, as well as in the rest of the country. The Western Cape Government’s Provincial Economic Review and Outlook released in September this year revealed that the Western Cape is on track to continue outperforming the national economy, with projected provincial GDP growth of 1.3% for 2024 and 1.8% for 2025.
Reacting to the latest jobs numbers, Premier Alan Winde said, “I am thrilled that more people can find a job in the Western Cape – a job is not just a pay check, it gives a person dignity and empowers them to make more choices for themselves. The Western Cape is now home to the lowest official unemployment rate in South Africa at 19.6%, and the highest Labour Absorption Rate and the joint-highest Labour Force Participation Rate as well. These indicators show that our economic strategy to grow the economy and create jobs is working. Through initiatives such as the SMME Booster Fund and the Red Tape Reduction Unit, the Western Cape Government has worked extremely hard to reduce barriers to entry for small businesses and entrepreneurs, and to build the economy brick by brick. It is fantastic to see the economy respond with such strong performance. But we also acknowledge that we have a lot more work to do to keep our economy growing to create even more jobs.”
“Employment is about more than just a number in a report. Every job that we add into the economy is a lasting investment into the safety, wellbeing, and dignity of our residents. Having added 75 000 jobs to our economy since the last quarter, it is clear that our province is on the right track, despite headwinds in the world economy.”
“These numbers are particularly encouraging for us as we enter the festive season when we traditionally see even more job opportunities as visitors flock to our province,” concluded Premier Winde.
Ivan Meyer, Minister of Agriculture, Economic Development and Tourism, said, “Our growth for jobs strategy is aggressively targeting creating jobs in the Western Cape.
Nothing is more important than driving economic growth and more jobs and hope for the citizens of the Western Cape. Our business sector is resilient and determined to create more jobs. Our investment pipeline, exports and increase in tourism numbers are creating business and investment confidence.
“Good governance, business confidence and infrastructure investment are paying off. We need to and will do more to create more opportunities to grow the economy and jobs in the Western Cape,” concluded Minister Meyer.